TJ Walker breaks down seven rules for politicians handling hurricane crises: stay visible, mobilize resources fast, give clear instructions to citizens, set up a communications hub, update hourly, do hands-on work people can see, and keep asking loudly for more resources.
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There's a big hurricane coming. What should a smart politician do? Well, here are seven key lessons for any politician who wants to not see his career go down in flames when it comes to poor crisis communications. Crisis response during a hurricane. Rule number one, you've got to be visible. You can't call it in from a vacation in the Bahamas or Disneyland. Number two, you've got to be very upfront and vocal at mobilizing resources. You've got to bring in the National Guard if appropriate. You've got to mobilize all the emergency resources that your city or state or nation has at its disposal. Number three, you need to be seen as aggressively telling citizens what to do. If they need to have sandbags up against the river, do that. They need to take everything off of the their porches so things are not flying around and hurting people. Tell them what to do. You need to be seen as proactive. Rule number four, you need to have a communications headquarters. Every single reporter in your town, your city, your state, they need to know exactly where to get you at all times. Can't be any of this calling a government agency after five on Friday, we can't get a hold of you. Step number five, you have to give hourly updates leading up to the hurricane when it hits and certainly right after it happens. There has to be constant, constant communications flow. Rule number six, you've got to get out of your office and actually do things. That means rescue kittens from trees, boil water, rescue elderly citizens who are trapped in a home because that's surrounded by water. You need to be doing things, not simply sitting back in a comfortable office. Rule number seven, you have to continue communicating loudly on a regular basis, hourly, at least the first couple of days, telling people exactly what you're doing and being very loud and clear, asking for more resources, whether it's from the state or from the federal government. Your constituents need to see that you really care about this. It's your number one priority. If you do that, you will get through this hurricane. I'm TJ Walker for the Daily National.
